The Watch Dude is a blog dedicated to men's timepieces. This blog typically covers affordable watch brands from Armitron to Wenger. However, interesting watches and the brands we dream of are also covered. Thanks for sharing my enthusiasm for watches!

Sunday, May 7, 2017

The Sad Saga of My Seiko Kinetic Watch

I recently dug deep into my vast warehouse of seldom used watches. I found a Seiko Kinetic watch that I received a couple of years ago. When I tried it on at home, I thought that the bracelet was a tad too loose and vowed to take it to a jeweler for adjustment. Of course, weeks and months rolled by and I never did anything with the Seiko. In retrospect, I should have.

Seiko Kinetic Men's Watch

When I set the Seiko Kinetic watch aside, I thought it was a mechanical watch just like any other mechanical watch. But, I was wrong. It's a rather unusual hybrid watch. The Seiko Kinetic has a rotor that charges a battery or capacitor as it is wound. Once wound, the battery is supposed to give months of service. The accompanying manual gave instructions for shaking the watch from side to side and up and down to provide the initial charge. Then it advised wearing the watch continuously for 10 hours. If the charge is low, the Seiko Kinetic watch will advance two seconds at a time.

Unfortunately, my Seiko Kinetic Watch never really got going. I could shake it and wear it and within a few hours it would be taking two seconds at a time in a strange stutter step and slowly losing time. As it turns out, the Seiko Kinetic watch battery can go dead after a long period of not being used. This ehow article Problems with a Seiko Kinetic Watch outlines some of the issues with the watch.

What will happen to my Seiko Kinetic? I suppose it will sink back into the far recesses of my warehouse. One day, I might take it to a service center.